De'Arnise Keep
De'Arnise Keep is the main building in De'Arnise Hold in Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn. Ground Floor The main area of the Keep, the quest to liberate the Keep from its occupying invaders begins here. Using the Secret Passage releases the player into a storage chamber, where they are beset by Trolls. After slaying them, they can loot the various crates and barrels for a Light Crossbow +1, Bolts +1, Bolts of Lightning, a Potion of Defense, Scrolls of Agannazar's Scorcher and Protection from Normal Weapons, 5 Potions of Extra Healing, and some normal sling bullets and throwing darts. The Armoury In this room, you will find one of the Keep's few survivors, who will give you some details about the invaders. Specifically, he warns the player about how they broke into the Keep in the first place - with the aid of strange, burrowing monsters that seem to have a mind-befuddling gaze - and notes that their digging monsters have a strange fondness for dog stew. This is a valuable clue for defeating the Umber Hulks in the basement. He also mentions the Flail of Ages, a powerful flail that would certainly be handy for slaying the trolls. He then flees through the secret passage. Looting the Armoury will provide the party with a Long Bow +1, a Spear +1, a Quarterstaff +1, Arrows of Fire, and Arrows of Acid. A secret door hidden in the north corner leads to the Forge. The Forge In addition to a chest containing a Scroll of Find Familiar, this room is important; if one can retrieve the three Flail Heads hidden throughout the Keep, they can be assembled here to create the Flail of Ages, a powerful magical weapon. When complete, the Flail of Ages is a Flail +3 that does Acid, Cold and Fire bonus damage. It's also possible to assemble the Flail piece by piece, in which case the enchantment bonus and damage bonus are based on the number of heads added; adding the Acid and Fire heads, for example, would create a Flail +2 that does Acid and Fire bonus damage. Assembling the complete Flail of Ages awards the party with 22350 EXP. A secret door in this room leads to the Trophy Room. The Trophy Room The Trophy Room contains 810 gold pieces, a Ring of Earth Control, and the Cold Head for the Flail of Ages. The Main Hall A number of Troll Guards stalk this chamber and must be defeated to progress. The outer corridor has, at its southernmost corner, a chest holding 450 gold pieces a Dagger +2. Servant's Quarters If the left of the two latrines is examined, a secret door is found that hides a hidden treasure cache; a Star Sapphire, a Scroll of Breach, and a Scroll of Protection from Normal Missiles. There is nothing else here. The Kitchen If you have the four pieces of Dog Meat from the Courtyard, you can cook up a pot of Dog Stew, earning the party 11500 EXP. The woodpile has some Darts of Stunning concealed in it. It also holds the door to the Courtyard and a staircase leading to the Upper Floor. Upper Floor The Upper Floor of the Keep hides a secret route down to the Basement, and the player needs to travel through here to complete the quest. In addition, two of the three heads required to complete the Flail of Ages are to be found here. Enemies encountered in this general area consist of Trolls, Giant Trolls, Ice Trolls and Spectral Trolls. The Study The Keep Key that opens the Locked Chambers and the room in which Nalia's Aunt is imprisoned is to be found here. However, the party will need to overcome a Split Troll, the Tiny Trolls it creates upon death, an Ice Troll, and a Yuan-ti Mage to retrieve it. There are also Scrolls of Minor Spell Turning and Conjure Lesser Earth Elemental to retrieve here once the enemies are slain. Locked Chambers These chambers can only be accessed with the Keep Key. The northeastern locked door opens a series of secret passages that lead behind the study to a hidden room. There is a trap that needs to be disarmed here, but there is a Wand of Frost hidden in the fireplace and Scrolls of Spell Thrust and True Sight hidden in the chamber between this room and Glaicus's Prison. Glaicus's Prison Glaicus, a De'Arnise veteran retainer seemingly turned traitor, resides in this room. He is under the effects of a Charm spell cast by one of the Yuan-ti mages, and if Nalia sees Glaicus first, she will drop a hint to this. Glaicus is a difficult fight, being a strong Fighter who drinks potions of Fire Giant Strength, Extra Healing and Oil of Speed to enhance his prowess. Killing him rewards the player with 9500 EXP and the Acid Head for the Flail of Ages. An alternate option is to counter Glaicus's enchantment with Dispel Magic or a Charm spell of the player's own - Dire Charm or Domination seem the best options, but the Ring of Human Influence will suffice as well. Successfully charming Glaicus is difficult but dispelling the effect is easy; in this case, he can be talked to and will explain what happened to him, giving the player the Acid Head and leaving. Breaking the enchantment and sending him to freedom rewards the player with 24800 EXP. Note! Countering Glaicus's Charm spell is a reportedly glitched part of the game. The player may need to use Pause after his NPC circle turns blue to be able to talk to him, or may need to wait for the player's Charm spell to wear off. Reports differ as to which is the proper method. Nalia's Aunt's Quarters The southwestern door holds the chambers of Nalia's irksome aunt and her aggravated defender, Hendron. She will comment in disgust on the party and then leave, giving access to the Chapel and to the spiral staircase leading to the Cellars. The Chapel The Chapel houses three statues with enchanted weapons placed there for safekeeping - but also houses six golems to defend those items. Taking any weapon other than the Fire Flail Head will cause an associated set of golems to attack. The left statue carries The Capper a Warhammer +1 (+3 against Giantkin) and the Fire Head for the Flail of Ages +3. Taking the Warhammer releases one Flesh Golem and one Stone Golem. The middle statue carries the Elven Court Bow +3. Taking this releases one Clay Golem and one Iron Golem. The right statue carries the Frostreaver +3 Battle Axe +3. Taking this releases one Flesh Golem and one Stone Golem. The Iron Golem is too large to fit through the door leading out of the Chapel, so retreating there can be a valuable tactic. Basement The Basement of the Keep is where the dungeon concludes. The first chamber contains a trapped chest holding a Shield Amulet, whilst the second houses three Troll Guards. The chamber beyond that holds the last defense before Tor'Gal himself; four Umber Hulks. A party can try and fight them, but there is an alternative. As Dale hinted at when you encountered him, if you have a stealth-cloaked Thief or an invisible character carry the Dog Stew through the gaols to the Hulk Burrow, they can place the Dog Stew there to lure the Umber Hulks back into their burrow. Moving swiftly, they can close both doors into the gaols, trapping the Umber Hulks without having to risk their deadly confusion attack. Doing this completes the unmarked Doggy Stew side quest and awards the party 18750 EXP. Finally, the party may confront Torgal and his Troll Bodyguards in the Vault, a difficult battle indeed. However, the battle may be made easier if a thief or invisible creature enters the room where Torgal dwells. Torgal will follow the unseen assailant back to where the party waits, allowing the party to kill Torgal without his Troll Bodyguards. When Torgal falls, the column against which the former Lord De'Arnise is sprawled hides the treasure Torgal sought; 2126 gold pieces, assorted gems, and a random Scroll. As a Stronghold Governing the Keep is not too involving. A Majordomo is hired to handle the small details, but will need you approximately once a week to once a month in order to handle larger cases; a runner may appear in other areas to summon you to the Keep for such matters. Because the Keep has peasants loyal to it, it generates a weekly amount of tax - 500 gold pieces, by default. The player may opt to raise this amount, but this will anger the peasantry. An invisible "stat" associated with the Keep is Revolt. This measures just how displeased the peasants are with the leadership provided by Gorion's Ward; starting with a value of zero, if it reaches a value of 10, then the peasants will revolt - the player will be permanently barred from accessing the Keep and will lose all benefits of the Keep. Talking to the four named servants who inhabit the Keep – Metigo the butler, Olmara the cook, Talira the maid, and Captain Cernick - will provide a subtle clue as to how high the Revolt score is. The less happy they are, the less happy the peasants are. Approximately once a week, the Keep will produce a notable problem that the player will need to handle. There are eight of these in total, after which the Keep no longer has quests associated with it, but does serve as a steady generator of money. For the specific mini-quests involved with the De'Arnise Keep as a Stronghold, see: Ruling the de'Arnise Keep and Lands. Characters *Daleson *Glaicus *Hendron – de'Arnise guard only identified by Nalia *Lady Delcia Caan – Nalia's aunt *TorGal Notable loot Ground floor *Dog Stew – made in the kitchen by cooking 4 pieces of Dog Meat. *Flail Head (Cold) – in the hidden room north of the forge. Upper floor *Elven Court Bow – inside one of the chapel's statues. *Flail Head (Acid) – dropped or given by Glaicus. *Flail Head (Fire) – inside one of the chapel's statues. *Frostreaver – inside one of the chapel's statues. *Keep Key – inside a cupboard. *The Capper – inside one of the chapel's statues. Basement *Dog Bones – inside the Umber Hulks' feeding room in the basement. *Orc Leather – inside a chest, in the Umber Hulks' room. *Shield Amulet – inside a chest in the basement's first room. Related quests *The de'Arnise Keep has been Invaded *Ruling the de'Arnise Keep and Lands Category:Image Needed Category:Infobox Incomplete